1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of sensor resources management and tracking fusion and, in particular, to the management and data fusion of sensors such as radar systems used to detect and monitor moving targets.
2. Description of Related Art
Tracking moving ground targets by radar from an aircraft in a battlefield situation is a difficult process. First of all, there may be a large number of moving vehicles in the vicinity of the targets of interest. In addition, the terrain and foliage can intermittently block surveillance. Thus sensor management is critical. In most previous tracking instances, the tracker was data driven. Trackers were at the mercy of the data they ingested. The only way to improve performance was to fine tune prediction models, sensor models, and association algorithms. Such fine-tuning led to improved performance, but only marginally. Potentially, trackers could realize much more significant improvements if they could manage their input data stream.
Thus, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a process for improving the ability to track targets using sensor data.
It is another primary object of the invention to provide a process for optimizing the use of the radar systems.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a process for selecting the best mode to operate the radar systems in so as to optimize the ability of the radar systems to track vehicles.